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4.1 Entrepreneurship and Property
4.1.1 Conversion of the Social Infrastructure
Preschool
Establishments
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When converting preschool establishments,
one should proceed
from the fact that young parents are , as a rule, low-paid
and relatively socially vulnerable. They occupy low-level,
low-qualified jobs and have little practical work
experience.
Recently the cost of keeping children in
preschool
establishments has risen constantly. By the third quarter
of
this year, it already cost 2,000-2,500 roubles a month.
In
such conditions, it is extremely difficult for parents to
pay the full expenses of sending their children to
kindergarten.
Transitional forms should exist. Experience
accumulated by
Nizhni Novgorod oblast is worthy of note. According to a
decision by the regional council, 20% of the cost of keeping
children in kindergarten is paid by parents, and 40% by
the
parents' workplaces. For single parents, the missing portion
is compensated by the local budget.
In this case, parents also have to pay
in part for their children's fees, which will grow along
with prices. It is
also possible that in future, as the economy stabilizes,
a
gradual transition will be made toward parental payment
of
a greater share of the funds spent on their children's
upbringing, if not the whole amount.
Such an approach already helps resolve
the problem of
removing preschool establishments from the balance sheets
of
state enterprises. With these aims in mind, one should
create independent enterprises from kindergartens and
children's centres. These could be limited partnerships,
joint stock companies, or private enterprises. The latter
could comprise one or several children's institutions, and
each could have its own book-keeping. Or one could create
a
single, centralized accounting department. Most importantly
they should be legal entities.
The local authorities, enterprises with
kindergartens listed
on their financial statements, and other interested parties
may become their founders.
The newly created organisations would work
with the parents
and their workplaces on a contractual basis.
The local authorities should establish a minimum set of
services for children (food, medicine, and education) and
the lowest possible costs, and make sure that these
conditions are observed. If the parents would like the
services to be expanded (e.g., to include participation
in
sports or a study of foreign languages), these additional
services should be fully paid for by the parents.
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